A 12-MONTH reprieves on farmers facing a 150 per cent hike from the new emergency services tax was acknowledgement by the Govvernment of the pain its tax had caused, said Victorian Farmers' Federation president Brett Hoskling.
Mr Hosking told the Loddon Herald this afternoon that the temporary hike halt in the Government's new drought assistance package for all Victorian farmers announced today was just another step in the fight againmst the tax.
"The conversation needs to be continued to remove this tax burden," Mr Hosking said.
His call for more talks against the tax comes as Ripon MP Martha Haylett again repeated comments to the Loddon Herald earlier this month about taking concerns to the Premier Jacinta Allan.
"I have continued to represent my community by directly lobbying the Victorian Government to fix the Emergency Services and Volunteers Fund," she said online again on Wednesday night.
"Although I was glad to see some amendments made two weeks ago, it is clear these changes don’t go far enough. I have spoken directly to the Treasurer and Premier to make them aware of my community’s views. It is clear the way this levy has been calculated has a disproportionate impact on farmers. It is not fair and I will keep fighting to fix it."
Mr Hoskng also said the inclusion off Victoria in the new drought declaration would remove some red tape in the process and acknowledged the challenges in rural communities. However he wants to see full rate relief for farmers on the agenda when the Government's new taskforce chaired by Ms Allan has its first meeting next week.
He is a member of the taskforce along with Murray Plains MP Peter Walsh who said was approached by Premier Jacinta Allan to join her taskforce.
“This is not about politics; this is about coming up with the best possible solutions for our besieged agricultural industries and I thank the Premier for taking my experience into account in asking me to help,” Mr Walsh says.
“I have spent the past 30 years working in this area as a member of parliament, as an Agriculture and Water Minister and as president of the Victoria Farmers Federation – and before that ran my own farming enterprise, so I am confident I will have plenty of suggestions to benefit this vital taskforce,” he said.
“This is where you truly represent the people, when the politics are put aside and we come together to help everyday Victorians – and that’s what everyone on this taskforce will be doing.”
Mr Walsh says the season break on which farming relies so heavily has failed to materialise at this point, with May’s rainfall now classified as ‘worst case scenario’ and no immediate signs of any improvement.
He says there is also a tragic darker side to the drought, with media reports showing farmers and country advocates sounding warning bells over a steep decline in mental health spreading across regional Victoria as the drought worsens.
“There are increasing reports, and stories I hear, troubling reports, of people under increasing stress, mounting debts, and recent reports of suicide in some farming communities have prompted advocates to call on locals to speak up if they think someone is at risk,” Mr Walsh says.
His assessment has been backed up by VFF president Brett Hosking – who is also on the new taskforce – who says the risk to people’s livelihoods and ability to cope is a real concern.
“We know a farmer takes his own life every 10 days and that incredibly sad statistic only goes up in times of drought, times of extra stress,” Mr Hosking says.
“It’s not something we want to see, and not something we even like talking about, but it is a reality, and it needs to be addressed.”
Both Mr Walsh and Mr Hosking says they are looking forward to seeing the rollout of the taskforce getting into the worst affected areas to get “the important and essential up-close-and-personal understanding of the situation”.
